König Hirsch

Hans Werner Henze
Operas Boulevard Solitude (1952) König Hirsch (1956) Der Prinz von Homburg (1960) Elegy for Young Lovers (1961) Der junge Lord (1965) The Bassarids (1966) Der langwierige Weg in die Wohnung der Natascha Ungeheuer (1971) We Come to the River (1976) The English Cat (1983) Das verratene Meer (1990) Venus und Adonis (1997) L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe (2003) Phaedra (2007) Gisela! (2010)

König Hirsch (in English, The Stag King) is an opera in three acts by Hans Werner Henze to a German libretto by Heinz von Cramer after a fable by Carlo Gozzi.

Performance history

König Hirsch was first performed in a shortened version by the Städtische Oper Berlin on 23 September 1956 in the Theater des Westens. It was rewritten as Il re cervo, oder Die Irrfahrten der Wahrheit (The Stag King or The Odysseys of Truth) and performed at the Staatstheater Kassel on 10 March 1963. This version was also produced at the Santa Fe Opera on 4 August 1965. The complete work was given for the first time on 5 May 1985 at the Staatsoper Stuttgart.

Roles

Synopsis

The king, who has been cast into the forest as a child by the governor, returns to his kingdom. However he is tricked by the governor and forced to go back to the forest where he turns into a stag. Eventually he goes back once again, the governor is killed, and he is transformed again into human form.

Instrumentation

• woodwinds: 3 flutes (3rd doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon
• Brass: 4 horns, 3 trumpets (3rd doubling on piccolo trumpet in C [ad lib.]), 2 trombones, tuba
• percussion (7 players): triangle, tubular bells, suspended cymbals, pair of cymbals, tamtam, 3 tom-toms, tambourine, snare drum, military drum, bass drum (with or without cymbals), claves, maracas, legno, Gegenschlagstöcke, rumba bells, glockenspiel, xylophone
• Other: harp, piano, celesta, organ (ad lib.), harpsichord, accordion, guitar, mandolin
• On-stage Band: flute, clarinet, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, percussion: triangle, small bells, tubular bells, suspended cymbals, pair of cymbals, tambourine, 2 snare drums, military drum, bass drum, glockenspiel, vibraphone, mandolin, celesta, organ, violin

References

• Casaglia, Gherardo (2005).[http://www.amadeusonline.net/almanacco?r=&alm_giorno=23&alm_mese=09&alm_anno=1956&alm_testo=K%F6nig_Hirsch "König Hirsch, 23 September 1956"]. Almanacco Amadeus (Italian).
• Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5